Our Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday we spent Easter at the zoo! We went to church on Saturday night, so after the kids found their Easter baskets, we headed to the zoo. The weather could not have been more beautiful, but I am not sure the girls completely enjoyed the trip. Just a few minutes after we arrived at the zoo, Ellie said she wished that there were more rides and less walking! Olivia loved seeing the animals, but after about an hour, she told us that she was tired and ready to leave. :) I was a little sad because I LOVE the zoo! It is such a happy place and I love to watch the animals. Oh, well, at least we spent some quality time together!

A Break to Remember

I have been on spring break this week and it has been the best week! I have enjoyed the girls more than ever and am SO excited about the summer. This is the first time I have truly felt like I have two little girls rather than having a baby. We have had a ball. We slept in, snuggled in the mornings, attempted Monkey Joes (Olivia isn't quite old enough for this to be super yet), played outside, did spring pictures, ran errands, went to have lunch with Daddy, and hung out at home. Tomorrow the girls are going to daycare for their egg hunt and Easter party, Saturday is Olivia's birthday party and the Easter service at church, and Sunday we are taking the girls to the zoo.
I just want to remember this break... it has definitely been my favorite one since I have had both girls. Nothing special, just easy... that makes it memorable. :)

Months of Catch Up...

Well, it has been a LONG while since I have posted. I need to do a better job of updating the blog. So much has happened in the past three months. I will try to hit the highlights and post a few pictures.

*Ellie turned 5 on January 24th. We had her princess party at Oogles & Googles. Although she was a little under the weather, she still enjoyed the time with her friends.
*We registered Ellie for kindergarten at JELV a few weeks ago. She looked so grown up as we walked into the room for her screening. I was so proud of her. Many people have asked me if I am sad about her going to kindergarten. I don't think sad is the right word. Ellie has been ready to go to school for a few years now. I can't wait to spend time with her while driving to and from school and am looking forward to having her so close.

*This week we will have our first appointment with Ellie's new counselor. We are going to try to learn some new strategies to help with her anxiety and sleep problems. As many of you know, Ellie has struggled with sleeping well since she was very small. She also worries about things in a way in which no 5 year old should. I am very hopeful that this will help her.

*Olivia will turn 2 in two weeks. I can hardly believe that my baby is already turning 2!!! We will have a little Elmo party for her next weekend. We have plans for a big egg hunt and lots of good food.
*Today we moved Olivia out of her crib and into her new big girl bed. She looks so precious in her new bed and is SO excited to be out of the crib.

*We put our house on the market in late November and had a contract on it the next month. However, the contract is contingent on the sale of their house and so far, no luck. We have had LOTS of showings and sure are ready to be done with this.
*After a great deal of thinking and praying, Danny and I have decided not to build on the lot we have in Jessamine County. Building was going to be very expensive, time intensive, and stressful and we were just not at peace about starting this project right now. I have felt uneasy about building for several months. Last Sunday we finally reached the decision that we could be just as happy in a much more affordable home and that not having to rent and go through the building process would reduce our stress levels a great deal. So, we are still planning to move, but just not to build.

*This week is SPRING BREAK!!! I am thrilled to have some time to unwind and hang out with my girls. I am not planning to go in to work at all which will be VERY NICE!

Snow Day!!!

Today was our first snow day of the year and we had a fun day at home in our pjs. Believe it or not, I think I was ready for a day at home after three crazy days of work! I enjoyed spending time with the girls and a quick adventure outside to take in a little bit of the beautiful snow! Thanks Becky, Austin and Matthew for getting us out for a little while!

Christmas 2009

This year Christmas was particularly fun with the girls. Olivia is just old enough to really understand the the presents are for her and be excited! We had a great time at home on Christmas morning - just the four of us and then we headed to Inez and Ashland to celebrate with the family. Danny and I were also both off work for the majority of the two weeks surrounding the holidays. It was a nice bonding time for the four of us!!!

Images Headshots

Ellie graduated from her modeling and acting class at Images last month. She did a great job and we were really proud of her. She learned so much in her weekly classes. At one of her last classes a photographer came in from LA and took the girls head shots. Here are a few of El's.

Tots Landing Christmas Program

Every year Tots Landing puts on an evening Christmas performance for the families of the children. It is always so much fun to see a little glimpse of what the kids learn during the day. I feel genuinely blessed to have found a daycare like Tots Landing. The greatest challenge of working the hours I do is balancing work and home. It sure does help to know that my kids are in good hands. Although no daycare is perfect, I have never once questioned whether or not the staff at Tots Landing loves my children. I know that they think of them as their own and truly love them. This year at the performace Ellie had a little trouble. She had a little anxiety about all of the people who would be in the audience. She pulled through and we were very proud of her. Olivia sure did well. She shook her little bells and stayed where she was supposed to be! It is so sad to know this is Ellie's last year at Tots. She has been there since she was 2 and I know she is really going to miss it there next year!

Great Wolf Lodge

A few weeks ago Becky and Jason and Danny and I took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. We had a great time despite me having a bit of stomach trouble. The kids loved playing in the water and Ellie of course tried out most every slide. She loved being there with the boys. They talked about it for weeks before we went and have already started talking about when we can go again!

Merry Christmas 2009

Don't Want to Forget

So, I have several different things I need to blog about and I will get caught up during break... however, I needed to get this story down before it is not so fresh in my mind anymore.
On Friday night we had Christmas with my family at Adam and Rebecca's house. We were disappointed in a few of Ellie's comments while opening gifts (if she doesn't pick out her own clothes these days, she doesn't care for them) and decided to talk to her on the way home about how fortunate she is. We were talking to her about the difference in wanting things and needing them and telling her about how some people did not have things that they truly needed such as a warm house to go home to. She was being so mature about the whole conversation and began listing other "needs" that people have. I was having a proud parent moment as she talked about how some people do not have food, clothes, etc. She then proceeded to say, "And, Mommy, some people do not have teeth. Like in that song, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". That person "NEEDS" teeth. Danny and I laughed and laughed and she had absolutely no idea why.

Then, she proceeded to tell us that God gives us the things we need if we ask for them. She said God gives us clothes, food, a family, friends, and Halloween treat bags. Can't forget those treat bags! :)

Sesame Street Live and If You Give a Pig a Pancake

The past month has been full of fun! A few weeks ago Danny and I took Ellie to see Sesame Street Live. She really enjoyed the performance and chose to get a shirt for her souvenier.

On Saturday night Ellie and I had a special girls night and went to see If You Give a Pig a Pancake at the Lexington Children's Theatre with Lora and Conner. The play was great and we laughed the entire time. Great time with great friends!

Halloween 2009

Halloween was extra fun this year because the girls really enjoyed it together! Last year Livvy didn't really know what was going on. This year was much better. Here are a few pics of the girls together. We did Trick or Treat with the Lavoie family and then we all headed to Fazolis for free kids meals! It was a fun night.

Totter's Otterville

Danny is off on Thursdays right now. Because it is not election season, his department is working 4 - 10 hour days. Yesterday afternoon we made a very last minute decision to head to Covington last night. We got to our hotel in time to swim for a little while before bed. Today we got up early and headed to Totter's Otterville. It is a large indoor play area with lots of fun stuff for the kids to do. The girls enjoyed dressing up, playing in the water table and ball pit, doing crafts, looking at the animals and doing ballet! After we left Totter's we headed to LaRosa's for mommy's favorite pizza!!! I will post pictures as soon I can. After a full day the girls were exhausted and were actually both asleep by 9:00 which doesn't happen often around here!

Sick, Sick, Sick

We just can't get well. As you can tell by her not so happy face in this picture, Olivia has been a sick little girl this week. She was having a very difficult time breathing on Tuesday night so we called the PAA nurse line. After talking with a super helpful nurse who gave us some great strategies to help her breathing, we decided to wait until the next morning to go to the doctor. On Wednesday morning she was diagnosed with severe croup and an ear infection. The doctor gave her a breathing treatment (which was not fun), a round of steroids and an antibiotic. She has had a rough time recovering and is just now getting back to her normal self. Our plans to take a family trip to Kings Island and the zoo this weekend have been put on hold which is disappointing and last night the dreaded feeling that I have been fighting for a week now surfaced. I am sick! I feel awful. I went to the doctor today and got some medicine. He thinks we caught it before it got bad and hopefully with some rest, I will be back to normal in time to enjoy a little bit of fall break. Please say a prayer for us!!!

Fun with Friends!

The other day Becky, Anna, Austin, Matthew, and Maggie came over for a few minutes of play time! The kids had a ball dressing up. Here are a few photos of the gang. I don't think Jason was thrilled with some of Austin's outfit choices, so I will leave those pics out for now :), but they all sure had fun! Ellie and Austin are so precious. Sometimes they are "in love" and other times they wouldn't say so. The other night she brought me a little piece of paper that she had been working on. At the top she had written LOVE in big letters and then underneath she had written Ellie and Austin. It made me smile. It never fails to amaze me that they could spend ALL day together at school and then she'll come home and beg to see him. I hate it that they won't continue going to school together. I hope they will stay friends forever!

Olivia Talks!!!

In the past few weeks, Olivia has really started talking. She is saying all sorts of precious little words and is really starting to communicate with us. She is saying mommy, daddy, Ellie, Gran, Papaw, doggy, kitty, milk, up, all done, night night, hello, hi, bye, and her most frequent - TAGGIE!!! She is growing up so quickly. I remember being so excited when Ellie did new things at this age. It is so different with Olivia. Although it is still exciting to see her grow and change, it is also sad because I know this is the last time we will go through all of this. Olivia has the best personality. She is always happy and smiling. We are so blessed to have such precious girls!!!

Camden Park

This weekend Danny's parents took Paula, Bob, Dylan, Danny, Ellie and me to Camden Park. Camden Park is a little amusement park tucked away in Kenova. Kenova is a little city near Ashland. Danny and I both went to Camden Park often as kids and have fond memories there. It was fun taking Ellie to a place where we both had been as kids. We had such a great time. The weather was great and we hardly had to wait in any lines.

Saturday Night Southland

For the past few weeks we have been going to Southland for evening service. We have wanted to permanently switch to going on Saturday evenings so that we could spend Sunday doing things together as a family. Over the past year we have grown disconnected with Sunday School and truly enjoy being able to go to church with Adam and Rebecca. We have grown to love the people in our Happily Hitched class and know we will have to make an extra effort to get together with friends. But after much thought and prayer I really feel this is the best decision for us. So many of our Saturdays are spent doing things around the house, running errands, cleaning, and spending time with grandparents that we rarely have a full day to just be together. So, Danny and I decided that when school started back, we were going to make a real effort to get to church on Saturday nights. We absolutely love it. I feel so at peace with our decision. I am so much more relaxed and focused during service because my mind isn't wandering to all the things I have to get done before the day is over. Ellie loved being there tonight and I think a few of her friends from Tots were in her class. We will see how it goes...

Back to School - Highlights & Lowlights :)

*Well, school is definitely in full swing. I feel so blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people and such precious children. I absolutely love my school. Special students remind me each and every day how much they need me. How could I ask for a better job? My wonderful husband sent me the most beautiful boquet of flowers yesterday. I don't think I have had a "first day of school" in my teaching career that hasn't included beautiful flowers. Thank you Danny for loving me!

*We have a brand new front office at NES which has been super fun! We have windows (no windows in the old office), new mailboxes, and all kinds of other cool new stuff. Being in a VERY old building makes the little things seem huge when they are NEW!

*I have started a new mentoring program this year at school. I have worked hard to get this "up and running" and I just know God will work in the lives of students through the work their mentors will do with them.

*Ellie and Olivia are adjusting. The transition back into long work days - 5 days a week - for mommy has led to some tears. We are trying to spend quality time together every night and make the weekends extra special. I expected this from Ellie. She always has a rough time with change. She has been sad about Zoe and many of her other classmates leaving for kindergarten. I am so thankful that Austin, Matthew, and Alex have moved into her class.... just in time! For some reason I wasn't prepared for Olivia to have trouble.... she is doing better each day!

*Tonight we got McDonalds and took a blanket to the park. The weather was beautiful! We enjoyed a picnic and play time with the girls. It was much needed as is this WEEKEND!!!

Tot Shots

I am trying to get caught up all that happened this summer one post at a time. For some reason the summer and working less days caused me to be LESS organized. Go figure...
Anyway, next week Ellie will start in a new gymnastics class called "Tot Shots". It is an invitation class that meets twice a week and it is supposed to prepare the little ones for pre-team classes which are the next step. Ellie amazes us with the things she is able to do on the bars. However, the floor exercises are not really her strength at this point. It is so hard for me to watch her pull herself right up on the bar and have so much strength in her moves and yet I CAN NOT get the child to do a cartwheel. So, we will see how it goes. The coach assurred me it was the class she needed to be in. I would just feel so much better if we could go into it doing a cartwheel! :)